Age of Varahamihira
Age of Varahamihira
Age of Varahamihira
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392 THE AGE AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE WORKS OF
I. Aryabhata.
Here the word has one t, and would not scan with
only
two. This scholiast almost always writes, when quoting Arya
bhata, cTOT ^Tt^HZi In a commentary by Somesvara on the
Achftrya Aryabhata
or
Aryabhata. In a commentary on it
by AmarSja, he is simply called Acharyabhata. Hence it ap
pears tome clear that the proper spelling of this name is Arya
bhata.
reign ofthe Khalif Almansur, (which lasted from a.d. 754 till
775), by an Indian astronomer who had come to his court, but
of which only the book properly so called, i.e. that of Brahma
gupta, had been translated into Arabic, by order of that Khalif,
by Muhammed bin IbrdhimAlfazdri, and had received the title
of the great Sind-hind. (See Colebrooke's Misc. ii. p. Ess.
504 seqq.) From this juxtaposition it appears that sufficient
materials are at hand for investigating the doctrines of this
founder of mathematical and astronomical science in India.
Therefore be very desirable
it would if a mathematician and
astronomer, provided with a competent knowledge of Sanskrit,
were to undertake to fill up this great gap in the knowledge
which we have hitherto possessed of the history of both these
sciences."
"
In an Additional Note on Aryabhatta and his Writings,"
by the Committee of Publication, appended to Dr. Hall's
paper, the learned writer under the initials W. D. W. brings
" on the
to light the contents of Bhuta Vishnu's Commentary
of from a of the Berlin
Dasagitika Aryabhatta," manuscript
a copy of which was
Library, supplied to him by Prof. Weber.
From the nature of tho contents given in Appendix A, it is
"
clear to me that the treatise which is described as a brief ono,
lithographed in Bombay.
G. The Laghu Jataka of Varaha Mihira.
The Vasishtha Siddhanta. Samvat 1810, or a.d. 1733.
The Vyasa Siddhanta.
Tho Brahma Siddhanta.
The Romaka Siddhanta. Copied Samvat 1727,ora.d. 1670.
H. ( The Siirya Siddhanta, with the Vasanabhashya.
The Sarvabhauma Siddhanta.
tThe Tattva Viveka Siddhfmta
(imperfect).
IA commentary on the Siddhanta Siromani by Vachaspati.
\ The Sundara Siddhanta.
ARYABHATA, VARAHAMIHIRA, BRAHMAGUPTA, ETC. 399
A A
I am glad to announce
that, in the Aryabhatiya, or Arya
bhatiya Sutra, we have got all the works of the elder Arya
bhata, at least all those which were known to Brahmagupta,
Bhatta Utpala, and Bhaskara Acharya.
or Laghu
My copies of the Aryabhatiya, Arya Siddhanta,
are identical with the one which Whish possessed,
evidently
and with the Berlin manuscript; the latter containing about
verses or more, in the of a com
twenty-seven Aryas shape
"
In
the Aryashtasata, the Patas (nodes) revolve; in the
they are described as
Dasagitika, stationary."
These two statements, which led Brahmagupta to censure
1 Colebrooke's Misc.
Ess., vol. ii. p. 467.
2 Journal of the American Oriental
Society, vol. vi. p. 560.
8 See the Siddhanta Kaumudi of Bhat^oji Diiita. Calcutta, 1864, vol. i. p. 369.
400 THE AGE AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE WORKS OF
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402 THE AGE AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE WORKS OF
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ARYABHATA, VARAHAMIHIRA, BRAHMAGUPTA, ETC. 403
^ii
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8fa^jwrpsn
.
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HcUi ^w^h
^i
wifa *nfa H^cB*refa*nnfa <^i*ii*i ii
"
As a person in a vessel, while moving forwards, sees an
immoveable object moving backwards, in the samo manner do
the stars, however immoveable,seem tomove (daily). At Lanka
(i.e. at a situation of no geographical latitude) they go straight
to the west (i.e. in a line that cuts the horizon at right angles,
or, what is the same, parallel to the prime vertical at Lanka)."1
I have no doubt that, in the following passage, which has been
a theme of fruitful discussion, the first line only is from Arya
bhata (it is the latter half of the fourth Arya of the Kfilapada
chapter, in my MS.); the second line is, in all likelihood, an
addition by Bhatta Utpala :2
"
The revolutions of Jupiter, multiplied by the number of
the signs (twelve), are the years of Jupiter, called Asvaj'uja,
etc.; his revolutions are equal to the number of the Jinas, a
couple, the Vedas, the seasons, the fires (i.e. 364,224)."
an alphabetical notation of his own, it
Aryabhata having
was surprising to find him make use of our arithmetical nota
tion, which the second line quoted above implies. But now
the enigma is solved: the second line is not of Aryabhata.
The Dasagiti Sutra, as the namo purports, is composed of ten
1 Journ.
Roy. As. Soc. vol. xx. 1863, p. 376.
2 Ibid. The couplet in the Aryabhatiya is as follows:?
p. 378.
ARYABHATA, VARAHAMIHIRA, BRAHMAGUPTA, ETC. 405
called p&das, of which the Dasagiti Sutra is the first, and the
IL Varaha Mihira,1
as we have
already seen, cites Aryabhata by name in
the passage given by Bhatta Utpala from Varaha's Pancha
Siddhfmtikft Karana, quoted in his commentary on the
Varahi Sanhita.2 Tho Pancha Siddhantika Karana I havo
1 Varaha Mihira calls himself the son of Adityaddsa, under whom ho studied
and obtained the highest gift from tho Sun in Kapitthaka (a grama, according to
Bhattotpala), and an Avantika, or native of
Ujjayini. Bhattotpala calls him a
or
Magadha brahmana, dvijavara (best of Brahiiianas), and
Avantikaehurya.
Yaraha's son was
Pj-thuyasas, who composed the Shatpancha?ika, on which also
has a
Bhattotpala
2 The commentary.
passage is given by Dr. Kern, Jour. Roy. As. Soc. vol. xx. p. 383.
ARYABHATA, VARAHAMIHIRA, BRAHMAGUPTA, ETC. 407
?FTf5%^H^III^T^T. HW f^WT^t I
-^w^ifim HT^ft^f^njT HtHf^ .HT# II
HTHte??HHTHf?t HTfTf?I_*r*n*%:I
?n**grft *fw%f **nrprf%f^?ft *v^: 11
f^?nf^^rJ41^^T;^^^T^f^^r^i.l^Mi: I
III. Brahmagupta
has given his own date in the Brahmasphuta Siddhanta. I
gave this extract in my Essay on Kalidasa, three or four
years ago; but it has escaped the attention of one of our
ablest and most accurate scholars.1
?l:
^fn^cftc!: ii <*ii
w^zfa^Td: ^^wf^d^^f*ft?i
- ^
iifa*re^n iirft f^^^cmnSK^ ii*?^rare ^8 -min ^
"
In the reign of Sri Vyaghramukha, of the Sri Chflpa
dynasty, five hundred and fifty years after the Saka King
(i.e. Sfilivahana, or a.d. 628)
having passed, Brahmagupta,
the son of Jishnu, at the age of thirty, composed the Brahma
gupta Siddhanta, for the gratification of mathematicians and
astronomers" (chap. 24. Aryas 7-8).
age has been quoted from his work by Colebrooke and others :
" In
the year 1036 of the Saka king, I was born;
And at the age of 36,1 composed the Siddhanta Siromani."
This date is quite in accordance with that of the inscription.
The following lines, in praise of Bhaskaracharya's accom
mwrfWT
HtH^iTrTt ** W*fe SHIT^ *t -W *_*_?*;: II
An important fact to be noticed is, the bestowal of tho title
of Vidyapati on Bhaskara Bhatta, an ancestor of Bhaskara
charya, by Bhoja.
This Bhoja is, undoubtedly, the monarch of Dhara, whom
it is the fashion to speak of as distinguished for his patronage
of learning.
In the Raja Mrganka Karana, attributed to Bhoja, a copy
of which was brought to me, by my Pandits, from Jessulmere,
whither I sent them in search of Jaina MSS. two years ago,
its author recommends 964 to be subtracted from tho Saka
"
era to find the Ahargana, i.e. the sum of days," in civil
reckoning.
APPENDIX A.
" now proceed to inquire how far the doctrines of our
"Wewill
treatise with what has elsewhere been handed down as
correspond
given. The treatise begins the iEon with sunrise at Lanka, a tenet
which distinguished the school of Aryabhatta from that of Puli?a
as above; also ii. 427, et al.) It affirms
(sec Colebrooke, Essays,
the revolution of the earth on its axis, and the non-reality of the
of the this to the effect of
apparent daily motion stars, comparing
riding in a chariot when fixed objects
seem to be moving in a direc
planets,
and stars to be naturally dark, and only illuminated upon
the sido which is turned toward the sun (see Colebrooke, Hind.
APPENDIX B.
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mVV iflWT^I-^JfTTf^rTO^ rt^T^ffT .?c IIQ. IITrnri
^nm^rcT^rrFrfri: in^mifmfrT^f^t ^f^^^faTTftna ~v:
^fl?* <i*U5*r i <TOT*fNf._: wri *f*rto: OT*ratfWf?i .t
wi
pala flourished, who was the destroyer of the happiness of the Andhra
females with their husbands.
A portion of the Lord of Lakshml, who escaped (or saved him
self), from the world, descended from .Jaitrapala, (and) who gained
tho utmost power on the field of battle, a controller of the earth,
who in the van of battle threw down the lord of
?Singhana;
Mathura, the of Benares; a young child of whose servant de
king
feated the warrior Ifammlra. Formerly Purushottama for
(Vishnu)
the benefit of thoworld became personified in the Yadu family. Ho
all the world and me. Now the
(Purushottama) conquers protects
description of the subordinates. May blessings attend tbe illustrious
solar race, in which the king Nikumbha was born, whose descendant
was Kama. Of race was
this the king Krshnaraja, a conqueror of
devoted to the Lord of Laksiimi; whose mind is ex
kings, solely
in revering and Brahmanas, who has no equal in the
panded gods
qualities of bravery, discrimination, and prowess; and who
liberality,
by love (gained) the title of Dharmaraja, possessed by the best of the
Pandavas. From him (Krshnaraja) Indraraja obtained his bodily
who was of large intellect exalted a hero who
descent, by prowess,
filled the heads of the wives of his enemies with terror. His son,
discreet among the virtuous, and a to give the vow of
high-priest
widowhood to tho wives of feudatories, whose are exalted,
qualities
a store-house of merit, clever on horseback like Kevanta, was
kings (i.e. chief among king3 ?), the son of Govana, whose hand is a
1 in the original. 2 Or 160U
Cage, Tillages.
3 The are equally to the brothers Sonhadeva
following adjectives applicable
and Hcnmdideva.
418 THE AGE AND AUTHENTICITY, ETC.
rnidhara, the first among the learned; acquainted with the meaning
of the Yedas, the first among metaphysicians, and skilful in the
knowledge of sacrificial ceremonies. Jaitrapala, having recognized
him as well-versed in the meanings of all the Sastras, took him from
this pura (town) and made him the chief of Pandits. His (Laksk
son was Changadeva, the best of the astronomers and
midkara's)
at the court of Singhana Chakravartin. He (Changadeva)
astrologers
constructs the for the of the treatises com
college (Matha) spread
The works composed by Bhaskaracharya,
posed by Bhaskaracharya.
the chief of which is the Siddhanta Siromani, and the works of his
ancestors and descendants, to be studied in my college.
ought duly
Sonhadeva with etc., to the college; others
granted ground, gold,
have also made some grauts Future kings ought to protect this,
(?).
for the increase of merit. The sa between two syllables
syllable
follows sicasti. In the year 1128 Saka in the year Prabhava, in
the Sravana month, full moon, on the occasion of a lunar eclipse,
in the presence of the people, thrown water into
Sonhadeva, having
the hands, to the of his preceptors as follows.
granted1 college (The
is mostly written in a form of old Marathl, cor
succeeding portion
to the Khandesl. Tbis is more ditlicult to make out
responding
than Sanskrit; but the appears to be:) certain rates were
purport
levied on the oil-mills, sugar manufactories, ou the total revenue
collected (?) and on the corn, for the support of the college. (Again
in Sanskrit:) in the same way, ground distinguished by the four
boundaries 306 (r). Yillages (again Khandesi)?two syllables lost
?some letters have not been made out . . . Pandits .... chauras of
....
ground Dhamoji's ground (?).
1A means a place, is evidently intended to
syllable lost: the word but here
mean the first gifts, Agradiuia.